uGridsToLoad Skyrim.ini Comparisons and Explanation (Default : V - Skyrim

» Tue May 29, 2012 3:51 am

Need a more comprehensive set of instructions with this, like minimum ram allocation per grid level to maximize stability. Someone must have some insight into this by now.

All these settings must be tied in with each other.

Example:

IF
uGridsToLoad= X

THEN
iMinMemoryPageSize= >=X
iMaxMemoryPageSize= >=X
iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes= >=X

etc. etc.

On another machine i'm running i am getting CTDs but it's a very poorly powered and some of the components are actually made by hp.

Now the whole memory thing I've toyed around with and i haven't been able to get any confirmation that these do anything, so i didn't post them as putting them in or removing them doesn't seem to have an effect at all.

Right now it seems to be really trial n error still. And we aren't entirely sure if those should be put in the skyrim or the skyrimprefs ini..... (I've tried both with no decernable effect)

I think that if ANYONE was/is experiencing or had been experiencing CTDs, DO NOT play with ugridstoload....not unless you want to battle with CTDs more often than you already are.

People with perfectly running machines are getting CTDs... even those that hit the play button and games for 8 hours straight have had CTDs every once in awhile... So clearly there are numerous "issues" and skyrim will need some patches to fix some of these stability problems.

I just hope that the developers take a look at everything in the last couple of days and whatever comes after and perhaps think about providing us all with a defined "MEGA" option in the options, allowing us to click it and be presented with the best options that many of us have found better than ultra, maybe even increasing ugrids to 7 at least in the process.

» Tue May 29, 2012 3:24 am

So no reports of a completely stable uGridsToLoad setting of at least 7? I would be happy with 7.

» Tue May 29, 2012 1:42 pm

So no reports of a completely stable uGridsToLoad setting of at least 7? I would be happy with 7.

Uhm, I'm at 9 and it's stable. Had lots of instability before using LAA and the memory allocation change. Not sure which one or was it both that fixed it as I did both at the same time, however.

» Tue May 29, 2012 3:17 pm

I would like a clear explanation regarding these please. What are they, what do they do? And reccommended settings.

I too want to know more about the other settings. I have my Ugridstoload at 9 now with uInterior Cell Buffer=32 and uExterior Cell Buffer=128. Are those values good with my Ugridstoload setting or should they be something else?

» Tue May 29, 2012 1:36 pm

I guess at this point I'm wondering if they are even real functions.

JamesG76 like how stable? We talkin' 8 hours of gameplay stable?

» Tue May 29, 2012 9:29 am

I guess at this point I'm wondering if they are even real functions.

JamesG76 like how stable? We talkin' 8 hours of gameplay stable?

Did the LAA hack and max allocated memory change on sunday (and the ugrid change), played 2-3 hours a day since then, not one crash since. Used to crash every hour or so before that.

» Tue May 29, 2012 2:41 pm

Did the LAA hack and max allocated memory change on sunday (and the ugrid change), played 2-3 hours a day since then, not one crash since. Used to crash every hour or so before that.

That is really awesome! I hope it stays that way. Need more success stories like this.

So in comparison to your system, I'm running a Q6600 @3.2 and 8 gigs RAM with 2x285GTX in SLI. Windows 7 x64. You think I should be even dabbling with ugrids? I would be so happy with just a setting of 7.

» Tue May 29, 2012 2:00 pm

Seems the interior cell buffer setting is not needed, auto works fine. Exterior should be;
(ugrids+1) ^ 2

examples;
9=100, 7 =64, 5=36, 11=144

uGridsToLoad=9
uExterior Cell Buffer=100
iPreloadSizeLimit=209715200

This works great for me, 5 hours without issues last night

» Tue May 29, 2012 9:32 am

Seems the interior cell buffer setting is not needed, auto works fine. Exterior should be;
(ugrids+1) ^ 2

examples;
9=100, 7 =64, 5=36, 11=144

uGridsToLoad=9
uExterior Cell Buffer=100
iPreloadSizeLimit=209715200

This works great for me, 5 hours without issues last night

THIS is the kinda [censored] I'm talking about! NICE WORK!

» Tue May 29, 2012 12:20 pm

Seems the interior cell buffer setting is not needed, auto works fine. Exterior should be;
(ugrids+1) ^ 2

examples;
9=100, 7 =64, 5=36, 11=144

uGridsToLoad=9
uExterior Cell Buffer=100
iPreloadSizeLimit=209715200

This works great for me, 5 hours without issues last night

what about the uInterior Cell Buffer=XX?

» Tue May 29, 2012 2:30 pm

That is really awesome! I hope it stays that way. Need more success stories like this.

So in comparison to your system, I'm running a Q6600 @3.2 and 8 gigs RAM with 2x285GTX in SLI. Windows 7 x64. You think I should be even dabbling with ugrids? I would be so happy with just a setting of 7.

Well best way to find out is to try it, and see what kind of FPS you get. If it doesn't work out, use the info in this thread to revert. However, I would definitely try, 2x285 should be in the gtx 470-480 ball park, assuming good scaling..

» Tue May 29, 2012 1:49 pm

Well best way to find out is to try it, and see what kind of FPS you get. If it doesn't work out, use the info in this thread to revert. However, I would definitely try, 2x285 should be in the gtx 470-480 ball park, assuming good scaling..

Don't bother setting the interior buffer size, the game does fine on it's own setting that one

This is my Skyrim.ini

[Display]sD3DDevice="AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series"fDefaultWorldFOV=90fDefault1stPersonFOV=90.0000[Grass]b30GrassVS=1[Water]bReflectLODObjects=1bReflectLODLand=1bReflectSky=1bReflectLODTrees=1[General]sLanguage=ENGLISHiPreloadSizeLimit=209715200ugridstoload=9uExterior Cell Buffer=100fSunShadowUpdateTime=0fSunUpdateThreshold=0

SkyrimPrefs.ini

Spoiler

[General]fdefaultfov=90fBrightLightColorB=1.0000fBrightLightColorG=1.0000fBrightLightColorR=1.0000iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0[Imagespace]bDoDepthOfField=1iRadialBlurLevel=2[Display]iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3fInteriorShadowDistance=3600.0000fShadowDistance=3600.0000iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=2048iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=4096iShadowSplitCount=2iMaxAnisotropy=16fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600.0000fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600.0000fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=10000000.0000fGamma=1.0000fDecalLOD2=1500.0000fDecalLOD1=1000.0000iActorShadowCountInt=6iActorShadowCountExt=6fSpecularLODStartFade=2400.0000fShadowLODStartFade=1200.0000fLightLODStartFade=3600.0000iTexMipMapMinimum=0iTexMipMapSkip=0iMultiSample=1iShadowMode=5bTreesReceiveShadows=1bDrawLandShadows=1bFull Screen=1iSize H=1200iSize W=1920fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=10000000.0000fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=10000000.0000iScreenShotIndex=2bShadowMaskZPrepass=0bMainZPrepass=0iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=25iMaxDecalsPerFrame=100bFloatPointRenderTarget=0sD3DDevice="AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series"bFXAAEnabled=1iShadowMapResolution=4096fShadowBiasScale=0.1500iShadowMaskQuarter=4iAdapter=0iPresentInterval=1iShadowFilter=3bTransparencyMultisampling=0bDrawShadows=1iWaterMultiSamples=0[Grass]b30GrassVS=1fGrassStartFadeDistance=25000.0000fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=25000.0000fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000[MAIN]bGamepadEnable=0bCrosshairEnabled=1fHUDOpacity=1.0000bSaveOnPause=1bSaveOnTravel=1bSaveOnWait=1bSaveOnRest=1fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=150000.0000[GamePlay]bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1bShowQuestMarkers=1iDifficulty=2[Interface]bDialogueSubtitles=0bGeneralSubtitles=0bShowCompass=1[Controls]fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.0000fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0120fMouseHeadingYScale=0.0120fMouseHeadingXScale=0.0120bAlwaysRunByDefault=1bInvertYValues=0bGamePadRumble=0bMouseAcceleration=0fForegroundMouseAccelBase=0fForegroundMouseAccelTop=0fForegroundMouseBase=0fForegroundMouseMult=0 [Particles]iMaxDesired=750[SaveGame]fAutosaveEveryXMins=15.0000[AudioMenu]fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000fVal7=1.0000uID7=0fVal6=1.0000uID6=0fVal5=1.0000uID5=0fVal4=1.0000uID4=0fVal3=0.8000uID3=94881fVal2=0.5000uID2=466532fVal1=1.0000uID1=554685fVal0=0.5000uID0=1007612[Clouds]fCloudLevel2Distance=262144.0000fCloudLevel1Distance=32768.0000fCloudLevel0Distance=16384.0000fCloudNearFadeDistance=9000.0000[TerrainManager]fTreeLoadDistance=250000.0000fBlockMaximumDistance=250000.0000fBlockLevel1Distance=70000.0000fBlockLevel0Distance=35000.0000fSplitDistanceMult=1.5000bShowLODInEditor=0[NavMesh]fObstacleAlpha=0.5000fCoverSideHighAlpha=0.8000fCoverSideLowAlpha=0.6500fEdgeFullAlpha=1.0000fEdgeHighAlpha=0.7500fEdgeLowAlpha=0.5000fTriangleFullAlpha=0.7000fTriangleHighAlpha=0.3500fTriangleLowAlpha=0.2000fLedgeBoxHalfHeight=25.0000fEdgeDistFromVert=10.0000fEdgeThickness=10.0000fPointSize=2.5000[Trees]bRenderSkinnedTrees=1uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=40[Decals]uMaxDecals=1000bDecals=1bSkinnedDecals=1uMaxSkinDecals=100uMaxSkinDecalsPerActor=60[LOD]fLODFadeOutMultObjects=15.0000fLODFadeOutMultItems=15.0000fLODFadeOutMultActors=15.0000fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=1.0000[Launcher]bEnableFileSelection=1bShowAllResolutions=0uLastAspectRatio=4[BlurShaderHDR]bDoHighDynamicRange=1[BlurShader]bUseBlurShader=0[Water]iWaterMultiSamples=0bUseWaterRefractions=1bUseWaterReflections=1bUseWaterReflectionBlur=1bUseWaterDisplacements=1bUseWaterDepth=1iWaterReflectWidth=512iWaterReflectHeight=512bReflectExplosions=1iWaterBlurAmount=4bAutoWaterSilhouetteReflections=0bForceHighDetailReflections=1bReflectLODLand=1bReflectLODObjects=1bReflectLODTrees=1bReflectSky=1

» Tue May 29, 2012 1:37 pm

Thanks for this guys! Will try tonight and post later on. (if I don't get svcked back into Skyrim)

» Tue May 29, 2012 2:52 am

Thanks for this guys! Will try tonight and post later on. (if I don't get svcked back into Skyrim)

Good luck!

» Tue May 29, 2012 5:15 pm

Does it make a difference whether the values are added into SkyrimPrefs.ini or Skyrim.ini? I've seen people posting both.
And does the section matter? (Like [General] or [Display]?)

» Tue May 29, 2012 10:52 am

Seems the interior cell buffer setting is not needed, auto works fine. Exterior should be;
(ugrids+1) ^ 2

examples;
9=100, 7 =64, 5=36, 11=144

uGridsToLoad=9
uExterior Cell Buffer=100
iPreloadSizeLimit=209715200

This works great for me, 5 hours without issues last night

I've been playing with uGridsToLoad settings for a while, and the above seems to be stable IF you start a new game. On an existing game, all bets are off. With my existing game, any change to uGrids will lead to freezes or crashes within 15-20 min of play time.

» Tue May 29, 2012 5:06 am

iPreloadSizeLimit=209715200

^^ How do you know what size to set that?

» Tue May 29, 2012 6:11 pm

Thank you very much! Running the ugrid at 9 almost changed the game for me! -)))

» Tue May 29, 2012 8:03 am

Thanks for the detailed overview!

I now run at a ugrids of 7 without any noticeable loss in framerate (average of 60 outdoors, 30-40 in towns). Crashing is an issue though. Nothing major by modded TES standards, but between half an hour to an hour of play I'm likely to CTD. Not sure whether I'll stick with the setting, but for now the extra detailed draw distance makes for a very nice improvement to visuals. Quick save is my friend!

» Tue May 29, 2012 9:39 am

does anyone know how the " use hard drive cache "- and "simple lighting" lines in the Skyrim.ini work?

» Tue May 29, 2012 4:20 am

Those who experience crashes, may want to try increasing the amount of RAM Skyrim can use, if you have 4GBs+ of RAM.

First, enable LAA for Skyrim: http://skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=202

Second, increase RAM Skyrim can allocate in skyrim.ini:

[Papyrus]iMinMemoryPageSize=100000iMaxMemoryPageSize=5000000iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=1800000000

Maybe try even higher values for iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes if you want, I set mine to 3.4GBs for instance, and it seems to run fine but I've only played for a few hours. with the ugrid set to 9.

For reference, my system is a Core i7 965 (Quad Core, 3.2Ghz) 12GBs RAM, GTX 580 1.5GBs VRAM.

Curious if these make any difference and if so, in what? Performance, smoothness?

I have 8Gig and used the LAA should I be setting the above values?

» Tue May 29, 2012 7:27 am

Is iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes needed? For some reason my skyrim crashes when ram reaches just above 1GB, sometimes 1.2GB

Settings:

[General]
uExterior Cell Buffer=128
uGridsToLoad=7
iPreloadSizeLimit=209715200

[Papyrus]
iMinMemoryPageSize=100000
iMaxMemoryPageSize=5000000
iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=1800000000

» Tue May 29, 2012 11:28 am

Im pretty sure your save game gets stuck with the ugrid setting, basically meaning you cannot revert back to 5 at a later date.

» Tue May 29, 2012 9:14 am

Awesome!! Thanks a lot

» Tue May 29, 2012 3:46 am

Im pretty sure your save game gets stuck with the ugrid setting, basically meaning you cannot revert back to 5 at a later date.

you can through the console. set ugrids through there into the ini file and then refresh the ini